


Stranger Things Have Happened

by reeby10



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Case Fic, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, POV John Reese, Sort Of, The Machine Ships It (Person of Interest), Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:01:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24565051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reeby10/pseuds/reeby10
Summary: John gets Harold's number and the investigation leads him to a wedding chapel of all things.
Relationships: Harold Finch/John Reese
Comments: 12
Kudos: 37
Collections: Exchange of Interest 2020





	Stranger Things Have Happened

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MulaSaWala](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MulaSaWala/gifts).



John hung up the payphone, gut already heavy with worry. Usually he’d take a number he got from the Machine to Harold for identification and research, but this time he didn’t need to. He knew whose social security number it was as soon as it came through.

It was Harold’s number.

One of Harold’s numbers, at least, but the important thing was that the Machine had identified a threat on Harold. And that, out of everything he’d faced since Harold brought him on, scared John. They were in danger all the time, but if the Machine found the threat to be important enough to warn him, then that was bad. Very bad.

John had a passing thought that he was glad that Harold was currently busy with something else and not actively surveilling him because that gave John some time. He needed to find out what the threat was, and he wanted to do it without Harold finding out. John didn’t want to put him in any more danger if he didn’t have to, so John needed to take care of this himself and fast.

⁂

The leads John was finding were… strange. He’d seen a lot of strange in his life, but something about this whole thing was different than the numbers they usually did. He figured it would be, of course, if only because it was Harold and Harold meant something to him that none of the others did. But still, he felt like there was something about this whole thing that he was missing.

It was only made worse by the fact that Harold was acting strangely too. John was doing his best to keep his investigation from the other man, which mostly meant spending a lot less time in the library. But Harold wasn’t spending much time there either, and if John wasn’t so busy, he’d probably be following Harold to find out what was going on.

He just had to hope that whatever it was that Harold was involved in, it wasn’t related to why the Machine had sent John his number. So far it didn’t seem that way, but again, it was all pretty strange. Maybe this would be wrapped up in time for John to figure it out.

John didn’t like keeping things from Harold like this, or having things kept from him. Secrets were a given in their line of work, but he thought he and Harold had developed a different kind of relationship. Closer than either of them had expected, really. At least on John’s part. If he had enough to drink he might even say he had feelings for Harold. But that wasn’t a path he cared to go down because he knew most of all it was a nonstarter.

Still, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. With Harold as his number, he had cause to think of the other man even more than he already did. Which wasn’t great for his desire to push those feelings to the back of his mind, he had to say. Especially with how worried he became the longer this went.

He needed to find the source of the threat to Harold soon and take them out.

⁂

Thankfully, things were finally starting to come together. It still didn’t make _sense_ per say, but he had a place and perhaps a target.

Three days after the Machine first gave him Harold’s number, John found himself staked out across the street from a small wedding chapel. He was set up at a cafe table in front of a bustling coffee shop, coffee long gone cold. He’d been there for two hours already and hadn’t seen or found anything out of the ordinary. But he was prepared to be there as long as he needed to to find out what was going on.

He didn’t have to wait long, because just half an hour later, he caught sight of Harold himself. Immediately, John was on guard, all pretense of being casual at his table falling away. He was tense, eyes watching carefully as Harold looked around warily and then entered the chapel.

In an instant, John was on his feet and heading across the street. There was no one suspicious in wight, and he hadn’t seen anyone go in except a few people who worked there, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t danger lurking inside. He had to get there before something happened.

John’s heart was beating so fast it was all he could hear, fear and worry giving him more focus than he thought he’d ever had on a job like this.

He burst through the door to the empty reception area and then into the chapel, gun drawn, and then pulled up short. The only people there were Harold — about halfway down the aisle now — the chapel wedding officiant, and two women seated in the front row. They all turned to look at the commotion, surprised.

“Harold?” John asked, eyes trained on the three strangers in the room. “You good?”

“I’m unharmed, John,” Harold replied softly. John could see the worried look on his face from the corner of his eye. “I am, however, quite confused about what is going on here.”

With no obvious threat, John lowered his gun but didn’t completely put it away. “Yeah, me too.”

Someone cleared their throat and both Harold and John turned to look at the officiant. He was still standing where he had been, looking a bit uncomfortable. Which was probably perfectly valid since John had just come running in with a gun, but John wasn’t willing to consider that until he discovered just what was happening.

“I assume you two are Harold Wren and John Warren?” he asked, voice only quaking a little. They both cautiously nodded and he relaxed just a little. “Then this is your wedding, just like was planned.”

“Planned?” John asked, lucky he got the word out through the sudden lump in his throat. He was trying very hard to not think about what that meant exactly.

“Yes? That is what we discussed and agreed upon from your emails last week.”

“Emails?” Harold asked, quiet enough that he was probably talking to himself. Suddenly he straightened and looked back at John with wide eyes. “John, did you perhaps get my number a few days ago?”

John considered lying for a moment, but immediately dismissed it. He didn’t lie to Harold unless it was absolutely necessary, and odd as this situation was, he didn’t think it was quite that level. He nodded and Harold relaxed a little, a crooked smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

“Then I should tell you that I also got your number, probably at the same time,” he said.

He raised his eyebrows, obviously waiting for John to come to the same conclusion as he had. John frowned, wondering why they’d both gotten each other’s numbers and why they’d been led to a wedding chapel and who had set them up for a wedding. Suddenly it hit him and he let out an only slightly hysterical laugh, rolling his eyes.

“You think it was Her?” John asked, already putting his gun away. He was vaguely aware of the other three people in the room relaxing as he did so, but most of his attention was on Harold. Just like it usually was.

Harold shrugged. “Who else?”

“Yeah,” John mused. In a strange way, it made sense, he supposed, even if this kind of thing wasn’t something the Machine should have been capable of. But she’d been surprising both of them for a long time, so this was just one more thing. “I guess your… daughter really wanted you to get married. To me.”

“It seems She did,” Harold replied, his amusement evident even as he kept his voice low enough to give them some semblance of privacy. “How do you feel about that, John?”

John was suddenly aware of how the two of them had drifted together as they spoke, now only a few steps away from one another. That was his answer, probably. The Machine was giving him a chance at something he hadn’t even let himself think about wanting, and against all odds, it seemed like Harold might want it just as much as he did.

“I’m not averse, Harold.” John licked at suddenly dry lips, watching the way Harold’s eyes followed the movement. “How do you feel about it?”

Harold opened his mouth to answer, but they were interrupted by the officiant clearing his throat again. They both turned to look at him, and John tried very hard to keep the annoyance he was feeling at the interruption from his face.

“So is this wedding happening or not?” the officiant asked. “We do have a schedule to keep, you know.”

“Of course, sorry to delay you,” Harold said, only sounding a little waspish. John grinned. “It’s happening.”

The officiant waved them over impatiently as the two women shifted in their seats, apparently surprised. It probably _was_ even more surprising from the outside, he had to admit. He was used to guns being drawn on him, but they likely weren’t. He was honestly lucky neither of them seemed to have called the police.

“Well then, let’s get this over with,” the officiant said as they took their places.

The short ceremony itself was a blur, John’s focus entirely on Harold. It still didn’t feel real. Even as they repeated their vows, some small part of him was expecting something to go wrong. Or for him to wake up from this dream, since there was no way this was real. It had to be a fantasy, because he rarely got the things he wanted, and he wanted this — wanted Harold — so very badly.

“You may now kiss the groom.”

John leaned in, and the moment his lips touched Harold’s, he knew it wasn’t a dream. There was no way he could imagine something this perfect. When they drew apart, he knew there was a huge grin on his face, and he was pleased to see it reflect on Harold’s face as well. They were married now. Harold wanted him as much as he wanted Harold, and they were _married_.

“Too bad I can’t send Her a thank you bouquet,” he murmured. Harold laughed, and John felt a new warmth settle into his belly. “She deserves it for this.”

Harold glanced over at the security camera in the corner of the room and smiled. “I think She knows,” he said fondly.

John looked over as well, and the tiny red light seemed to flicker in acknowledgement. Harold was probably right. This had proved, if nothing else, that She knew far more than She’d ever been trained or programmed to know. Luckily for them.


End file.
